This invention relates to automated banking machines. Specifically this invention relates to a printer apparatus for an automated banking machine that includes a ribbon cartridge that has longer life, runs at higher speeds, tolerates abrupt speed changes, has greater reliability and avoids damage to the machine in the event of a malfunction.
Automated banking machines which include printer apparatus are well known in the prior art. It is common for such printer apparatus to produce characters on paper or other media using impact printing techniques. Printer mechanisms are commonly used in automated banking machines to produce customer receipts, customer statements and transaction record documents.
Printer mechanisms in automated banking machines and other devices often include replaceable cartridges. Cartridges are used to house an ink bearing media such as a printer ribbon. Characters are produced by transferring ink from the ribbon or other ink bearing media to paper as a result of impacts against the ribbon by a print head or similar impact mechanism. As characters are printed a drive mechanism advances the ribbon so that a new ink bearing area moves into proximity with the print head. In this way adequate ink is always available from the ribbon to print the desired characters.
The ink bearing ribbon is typically housed in a replaceable cartridge so that when the ribbon is depleted it may be readily replaced. It is desirable to have a ribbon last as long as possible so that the frequency of replacement may be minimized and the replacement may be accomplished conveniently at times when other components of the machine require servicing.
Some print ribbons are designed for making a single pass through the printer. When the end of the print ribbon is reached the ribbon stops moving. Because the ink in the area at the end of the ribbon is quickly depleted, characters are no longer produced until a new ribbon is installed. Conventionally, such print ribbon cartridges are designed to minimize resistance to ribbon movement so that the ribbon may be moved with a relatively low speed, low power drive. When the end of the ribbon is reached the drive can no longer move the ribbon. In some situations the ribbon may separate from the spool at the end so the drive can continue to move. In other cases the drive will be prevented from moving the ribbon, but the drive has sufficiently low power that it can be held stopped indefinitely without causing damage to the drive.
To reduce the problem associated with the printing stopping when print ribbons reach the end, continuous print ribbons have been developed. Continuous print ribbons may make multiple passes through the print mechanism. Although in each pass less ink is available, at least some printing will be provided until the cartridge can be conveniently changed.
Continuous print cartridges are conventionally designed to minimize the resistance to ribbon movement. This enables the ribbon in the print cartridge to be moved by a generally low power drive, which is not damaged by a malfunction which prevents the drive from moving. However the need to limit the speed and power of ribbon drives has also limited the length of continuous print ribbons. This limits the time they can be used.
The desire to achieve low resistance to ribbon movement has also posed impediments to the use of ribbon cartridges in high print speed environments. In such applications the ribbon would be required to undergo very rapid speed changes without jamming or breaking. Achieving such properties, in combination with a long ribbon, which has inertial properties which prevent the attainment of the desired characteristics, has not been attainable. Because ribbon type printers have these drawbacks, situations requiring high speed printing have turned to other printer types such as laser printers to attain higher speeds. However, such alternative printer types also have drawbacks, particularly cost and the ability to provide a printed image that is tolerable to a user after the optimum time for replacement has passed. In an automated banking machine and other situations where only periodic servicing is conveniently possible, the ability to have a printer operate beyond its optimum replacement time is very desirable.
Thus there exists a need for a printer mechanism which can print using a ribbon type cartridge at higher speeds, and there further exists a need for a printer cartridge for use in such a printer which can withstand the higher speeds and abrupt speed changes required by such a printer mechanism, which includes a longer more densely packed ribbon to provide extended life, which is reliable and which is economical and readily replaced.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer apparatus.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an impact type printer apparatus that operates at higher speeds.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a printer apparatus that includes a printer cartridge that can withstand rapid changes in speed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a printer apparatus which includes a printer cartridge which has longer life.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a printer apparatus which includes a printer cartridge that has increased reliability.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a printer apparatus that minimizes the risk of damage in the event of a malfunction.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a printer apparatus that includes a printer cartridge that limits the amount of resistance that may be encountered in moving an ink bearing media in the cartridge.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a printer apparatus that includes a printer cartridge with a transmission mechanism which limits the amount of resistance that can be encountered in moving an ink bearing media in the cartridge.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a printer cartridge in a printing apparatus that includes a transmission mechanism for moving an ink bearing media, that includes a frangible member which breaks responsive to encountering a resistance to movement of the ink bearing media.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for printing with a moving ink bearing media in a printer apparatus which minimizes the risk of damage to the printing apparatus in the event of a malfunction.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for printing with a moving print ribbon on a printer cartridge which includes moving the print ribbon with a transmission mechanism that includes a frangible member which breaks in response to encountering an excessive resistance.
Further objects of the present invention will be made apparent in the following Best Modes for Carrying Out Invention and the appended claims.
The foregoing objects are accomplished in a preferred embodiment of the invention by a printer apparatus which includes a printer cartridge. An ink bearing print ribbon is supported on the cartridge. The cartridge includes a drive member that is rotatably moveable on the cartridge. The drive member is in operative connection with the print ribbon so that rotation of the drive member advances the ribbon to an area where printing on the paper is conducted.
The drive member of the ribbon cartridge is driven by a ribbon drive shaft. The ribbon drive shaft is in connection with a drive motor. The ribbon drive shaft engages a pair of opposed radially extending tabs which extend in a recess in the drive member of the printer cartridge. The tabs are frangible and break away when the drive member encounters a resistance to movement which is above a normal level.
When the ribbon cartridge is operating properly, the ribbon drive shaft moves in response to rotation of the motor to turn the drive member of the cartridge. The amount of resistance to movement of the ribbon is sufficiently low so that the needed amount of force to advance the ribbon may be readily transmitted through the tabs on the drive member without affecting the structural integrity thereof. In the event of a ribbon jam or other malfunction in the printer cartridge, the force required to turn the drive member will increase. When a resistance sufficient to break the tabs is encountered, the ribbon drive shaft will break the tabs. As a result the printer ribbon will stop moving while the ribbon drive shaft continues to freely turn in the recess of the drive member.
The printer apparatus of the preferred embodiment is a high speed impact type printer with a moving head that moves transversely across adjacent paper. The ribbon of the print cartridge extends outside the cartridge and adjacent to the head. To achieve high speed printing the head prints while moving in each transverse direction. To provide a new strike area for each character the ribbon is required to move at a high speed with frequent starts and stops. The cartridge includes a long densely packed continuous ribbon. Despite the high inertial forces the ribbon moves generally reliably and in coordinated relation with the starts and stops of the drive. However, if the ribbon should malfunction the apparatus and method of the present invention limits transmitted force and avoids subjecting drive line components to excessive resistance. This minimizes the risk of damage to drive linkages, the motor and its driving circuitry.